Indwelling catheter

ABSTRACT

An indwelling catheter comprises a tube, a female connector and an elastically deformable hemostasis valve which can be pressed by a male connector. An opening taper portion tapered forwardly is formed in a longitudinal intermediate portion of an inner circumferential surface of the female connector. The elastically deformable hemostasis valve is provided longitudinally slidably in the opening taper portion of the female connector and an inside portion extending rearwardly from the opening taper portion. The hemostasis valve includes; a body having a hollow form opened at its front and rear ends or a tubular portion fitted over the connecting portion from a rearward direction; and an openable/closable portion being opened by elastic deformation of the body or the tubular portion.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 10/773,409 filedFeb. 9, 2004, which claims priority of Japanese patent application Nos.2003-33635 and 2003-33636 filed Feb. 12, 2003, each of which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to improvements in a connector portion ofan indwelling catheter which is left implanted in an artery, a vein andthe like and is used for infusion, blood transfusion, artificialdialysis and the like, and more specifically, to a catheter which isimproved in a connection operation and is capable of, when leftimplanted in an artery, a vein and the like, preventing the leakage ofblood from the catheter until a cap or a infusion line is connected tothe catheter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

There is heretofore been an indwelling catheter of the type whichincludes a female connector connected to a tube to be left implanted inan artery, a vein and the like; and a hemostasis valve which is providedin this female connector comprises a body having a slit and being fittedin the female connector and a pusher provided for slidable movement inthe female connector and operative to press and open the slit of thebody (refer to, for example, JP-A-2002-263197).

In the above-mentioned one, when a male connector such as a syringe isinserted into and connected to the female connector, the pusher ispressed and the slit of the body is pressed open by the pusher, wherebya fluid path is brought to an open state.

However, in the above-mentioned indwelling catheter, since a dead spaceis formed between the body of the hemostasis valve and the pusher withinthe female connector, an infusion fluid and the like substantially flowinto and out of the dead space during the operation of connecting thefemale connector to the male connector.

Accordingly, during the connecting operation, if microorganisms enter byaccident, the dead space becomes a breeding ground of variousmicroorganisms, so that there is the risk that the dead space becomes acause of the onset of infectious diseases.

In addition, there is also the problem that the hemostasis valve has acomplicated structure made of two component parts.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As a result of earnest investigations made by the inventors to solve theproblems associated with the conventional techniques, the invention hasbeen completed.

An object of the invention is to provide an indwelling catheter in whichthe structure of a hemostasis valve is simplified to reduce a dead spacein a female connector and reduce the risk that the dead space becomes acause of the onset of infectious diseases, as well as in which even ifconnecting operation is repeated, there is not a great risk that thefunction of the hemostasis valve is impaired.

The above-mentioned object and other objects of the present inventionwill be clarified further more in the following description, and theseobjects are attained by the present invention comprising theconstitution mentioned below.

The invention relates to an indwelling catheter comprising:

a tube arranged in a longitudinal direction;

a female connector having a hollow form opened at its front and rearends and being provided on a rear portion of the tube in a state ofcommunicating with the rear portion wherein an opening taper portiontapered forwardly is formed in a longitudinal intermediate portion of aninternal circumferential surface of the female connector; and

an elastically deformable hemostasis valve is provided longitudinallyslidably in the opening taper portion of the female connector and aninside portion extending rearwardly from the opening taper portion,

the hemostasis valve including:

a body having a hollow form opened at its front and rear ends, the bodybeing elastically deformed in a radially inward direction by slidingforwardly in the opening taper portion, and also being urged rearwardlyby resilient force due to said elastic deformation; and

an openable/closable portion having a forwardly projecting tapered shapemolded integrally with the front end of the body to close the front endopening of the body, the openable/closable portion having a front endportion to be opened in the radially outward direction by elasticdeformation of the body in the radially inward direction.

The indwelling catheter may comprises:

a tube arranged in a longitudinal direction;

a female connector having a hollow form opened at its front and rearends and being provided on a rear portion of the tube in a state ofcommunicating with the rear portion wherein a male connector isseparably connected to a rear portion of the female connector and aninner needle is removably inserted through the tube and the femaleconnector with its front portion projecting forwardly from the tube andwherein an opening taper portion tapered forwardly is formed in alongitudinal intermediate portion of an internal circumferential surfaceof the female connector; and

an elastically deformable hemostasis valve pressable forwardly by themale connector is provided longitudinally slidably in the opening taperportion of the female connector and an inside portion extendingrearwardly from the opening taper portion,

the hemostasis valve including:

a body having a hollow form opened at its front and rear ends, the bodybeing elastically deformed in a radially inward direction by slidingforwardly in the opening taper portion during application of pressure bythe male connector, and also being urged rearwardly by resilient forcedue to this elastic deformation; and

an openable/closable portion having a forwardly projecting tapered shapemolded integrally with the front end of the body to close the front endopening of the body, the openable/closable portion having a front endportion to be opened by being elastically deformed in a radially outwarddirection during application of pressure by the inner needle and elasticdeformation of the body in the radially inward direction.

The connecting taper portion, which is provided to extend successivelyrearwardly from the opening taper portion and to which the maleconnector is releasably connected, may be formed on an internalcircumferential surface of the female connector and a taper ratio of theopening taper portion may be made larger than a taper ratio of theconnecting taper portion.

The hemostasis valve may have a duckbill-like shape.

The indwelling catheter may comprises:

a tube arranged in a longitudinal direction;

a female connector having a hollow form opened at its front and rearends and being provided on a rear portion of the tube in a state ofcommunicating with the rear portion wherein a tubular connecting portionis molded integrally with the tube or the female connector, the tubularconnecting portion being arranged in a longitudinal direction,communicating with the tube, being located in the female connector, andbeing opened at its rear end; and

an elastically deformable hemostasis valve being disposed in the femaleconnector,

the hemostasis valve including:

a tubular portion fitted over the connecting portion from a rearwarddirection and reducible in size by forward elastic deformation; and

an openable/closable portion molded integrally with a rear end of thetubular portion to close a rear end opening of the connecting portionand provided with a slit formed to extend in a radial direction, theslit being opened by being elastically deformed in a radially outwarddirection owing to the reduction in size of the tubular portion.

The indwelling catheter may comprises;

a tube arranged in a longitudinal direction;

a female connector having a hollow form opened at its front and rearends and being provided on a rear portion of the tube in a state ofcommunicating with the rear portion wherein a male connector isseparably connected to a rear portion of the female connector and aninner needle is removably inserted through the tube and the femaleconnector with its front portion projecting forwardly from the tube andwherein a tubular connecting portion is molded integrally with the tubeor the female connector, the tubular connecting portion being arrangedin a longitudinal direction, communicating with the tube, being locatedin the female connector, and being opened at its rear end; and

an elastically deformable hemostasis valve pressable forwardly by themale connector is disposed in the female connector,

the hemostasis valve including;

a tubular portion fitted over the connecting portion from a rearwarddirection and elastically deformed forwardly and reduced in size duringapplication of pressure by the male connector; and

an openable/closable portion molded integrally with a rear end of thetubular portion to close a rear end opening of the connecting portionand provided with a slit formed to extend in a radial direction, theinner needle being inserted through the slit with the slit pressed openby the inner needle, the slit being opened by elastic deformation of theopenable/closable portion in a radially outward direction owing to thereduction in size of the tubular portion.

The hemostasis valve may be made of a rubber elastic material.

In the present invention, the indwelling catheter may further comprisesa member having a male connector. The member may comprise an innerneedle, a needle hub and a male connector or may be a syringe.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 to 9 show a first embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 1 is across-sectional view.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of an essential portion of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of an essential portion of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the innerneedle and the like of FIG. 1 are replaced with a syringe.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of an essential portion of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C of FIG. 7.

FIGS. 10 to 16 show a second embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 10 isa cross-sectional view.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of an essential portion of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an exploded view of FIG. 10.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of an essential portion of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a rear view of the hemostasis valve of FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the innerneedle and the like of FIG. 10 are replaced with a syringe.

FIG. 16 is an enlarged view of an essential portion of FIG. 15.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A first embodiment in which the invention is applied to an externalneedle type indwelling catheter will be described with reference toFIGS. 1 to 9. FIG. 1 shows a catheter, and the catheter has a tube (acatheter tube, an external needle) 1, a female connector (a catheterconnector, an external needle hub) 2, a hemostasis valve 3, an innerneedle (a hollow needle) 4, an inner needle hub 5, a filter cap 6, ahydrophobic filter 7, and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 9, the tube 1 is elongated and (semi)transparentand has flexibility, and is integrally molded from a plastic (resin)material and is arranged in the longitudinal direction. As this plasticmaterial, for example, a thermoplastic resin is used. As thisthermoplastic resin, various materials can preferably be enumerated,such as ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymers (ETFE),tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkylether copolymers (PFA), polypropyleneresins, polyethylene resins, polyvinyl chloride,acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymers, polycarbonate resins,polyamide resins and polyoxymethylene resins.

The female connector 2 has a rear portion in the side of which a maleconnector 21 is releasably connected in the state of communicating withthe inside, and has a hollow tubular form opened at its front and rearends and is fitted on a rear portion of the tube 1 in the state ofcommunicating with the rear portion and is fixed by an adhesive 8. Theinternal circumferential surface of the female connector 2 is formedinto a connecting taper portion (a first taper portion) 9 located in therear portion, an opening taper portion (a second taper portion) 10located in a longitudinal intermediate portion, and a fixing portion 11located in a front portion, which portions 9, 10 and 11 are successivelyarranged in named order toward the front. Incidentally, in FIGS. 2, 5and 8, L1 to L3 respectively denote the lengths of the taper portions 9and 10 and the fixing portion 11. Each of the taper portions 9 and 10 istapered toward the front, and the taper ratio (taper angle) of theopening taper portion 10 is made larger than that of the connectingtaper portion 9. A male connector 21 such as a syringe or the like isreleasably connected to the inside of the connecting taper portion 9,and the tube 1 is fixed to the fixing portion 11. The female connector 2is integrally molded from a plastic (resin) material, and as thisplastic material, for example, materials similar to those of the tube 1can be enumerated.

The hemostasis valve 3 is liquid-tightly provided for sliding movementin the longitudinal direction in the connecting taper portion 9 and theopening taper portion 10 in the female connector 2, and is elasticallydeformable and can be pressed toward the front by the inner needle hub 5and the male connector. The hemostasis valve 3 has a tapered shape, forexample, a duckbill-like shape (the beak of a duckbilled platypus) or ashape incorporating this shape, and the hemostasis valve 3 is made of abody (tubular portion) 13 and an openable/closable portion 14 which areintegrally molded. The hemostasis valve 3 is formed of a rubber elasticmaterial such as silicone, synthetic polyisoprene rubber, naturalrubber, butyl rubber, chloroprene rubber, urethane rubber,styrene-butadiene rubber, ethylene-propylene rubber, acrylic rubber,fluororubber, or thermoplastic elastomer. Incidentally, elasticity mayalso be imparted to the hemostasis valve 3 by using a metallic materialsuch as a spring steel disposed in a resin material, and a shape memoryalloy, a combination of a rubber elastic material and a metallicmaterial, or the like.

The body 13 has a hollow tubular form opened at its front and rear ends,and its front and rear portions are respectively formed aslarge-diameter portions 16 each having a diameter larger than the insidediameter of the rear end of the opening taper portion 10. The body 13 islocated in the connecting taper portion 9 and liquid-tightly abuts onthe inside surface of the connecting taper portion 9. The body 13, whilebeing pressed by the inner needle hub 5 and the male connector 21,slides in the opening taper portion 10 toward the front and iselastically deformed in the radially inward direction, and is urgedrearwardly by resilient force due to this elastic deformation.Incidentally, in the invention, the opening taper portion 10 denotes ataper portion the rear end of which has an inside diameter smaller thanthe outside diameter of the body 13.

The openable/closable portion 14 has a forwardly projecting taperedshape molded integrally with the front end of the body 13, and in thisexample, is formed in a duckbill-like shape to openably close the frontend opening of the body 13 as will be described below. Specifically, aslit 18, which extends across the entire lengthwise (diametrical) lengthof the front end of the openable/closable portion 14 and is located inthe widthwise middle portion of the front end of the openable/closableportion 14, is formed to extend through the front end portion of theopenable/closable portion 14 in the longitudinal direction, whereby thefront end portion of the openable/closable portion 14 is madeopenable/closable. The front end portion of the openable/closableportion 14 is opened by being elastically deformed in the radial outwarddirection while being pressed by the inner needle 4 and when the body 13is elastically deformed in the inward radial direction.

The inner needle 4 is removably inserted through the tube 1 and thefemale connector 2, and its front portion projects forwardly from thetube 1. The inner needle 4 is shaped like the elongated tube and hasflexibility, and the front end is sharp-pointed. The inner needle 4 isintegrally molded from, for example, stainless steel (preferably, SUS304).

The inner needle hub 5 has a hollow tubular form opened at its front andrear ends, and its front portion is fitted over a rear portion of theinner needle 4 in the state of communicating with the rear portion andis fixed to the same by an adhesive 19, and is also removably insertedin the rear portion of the female connector 2. The inner needle hub 5 isintegrally molded from a plastic (resin) material, and as this plasticmaterial, for example, materials similar to those of the tube 1 can beenumerated.

The filter cap 6 serves to confirm flashbacks of blood and body fluidsinto the inner needle 4 and prevent blood and the like from leaking tothe outside. The filter cap 6 has a hollow tubular form opened at itsfront and rear ends, and its front portion is removably inserted in arear portion of the inner needle hub 5. The filter cap 6 is integrallymolded from a (semi)transparent plastic (resin) material, and as thisplastic material, for example, materials similar to those of the tube 1can be enumerated.

The filter 7 is fitted in the rear end portion of the filter cap 6.

According to the above-described first embodiment, when fluid istransfused or blood is drawn from a blood vessel such as a peripheralvein in the back of a hand of a patient or from under the skin or thelike of the patient, first of all, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the innerneedle 4 and the inner needle hub 5 of the catheter are inserted intothe female connector 2 from the rear. The inner needle 4 is insertedthrough the tube 1 while the openable/closable portion 14 of thehemostasis valve 3 is being pressed open by the inner needle 4, and theinner needle hub 5 presses the hemostasis valve 3 toward the front tocause the body 13 of the hemostasis valve 3 to slide in the openingtaper portion 10, thereby elastically deforming the body 13 in theradially inward direction. Incidentally, in this state, the body 13 isurged toward the rear by its resilient force.

Then, the inner needle 4 and the tube 1 are stuck into a blood vessel orthe like of the patient. At this time, blood in the blood vessel andbody fluids of the patient flash back, and flow out of the inner needle4 into the inner needle hub 5. This outflow can be visually confirmedvia the inner needle hub 5, whereby it is possible to easily confirmwhether the above-described needle sticking has been correctly carriedout.

In addition, during this needle sticking, the rear end opening of theinner needle hub 5 is closed by the filter cap 6 and the filter 7,whereby there is no risk that various microorganisms enters from therear end opening of the inner needle hub 5.

After the inner needle 4 and the tube 1 have been stuck into the bloodvessel or the like of the patient, the female connector 2 and the likeare fixed to the back of the hand of the patient by tape or the like.

Then, the inner needle 4 and the inner needle hub 5 are extracted fromthe tube 1, female connector 2 and the like. Since the hemostasis valve3 is released from the pressure of the inner needle hub 5 by thisextraction, the body 13 of the hemostasis valve 3 slides toward the rearowing to its resilient force and returns to the inside of the connectingtaper portion 9, and is deformed in the radially outward direction andrestores to its original size, thereby closing the openable/closableportion 14 of the hemostasis valve 3. Accordingly, during/after theextraction of the inner needle 4, it is possible to prevent bloodleakage and the like.

Subsequently, when infusion, drawing of blood or the like is to bestarted, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, a tip 21 of a syringe 20 illustratedas one example of a male connector is inserted into the female connector2, and the tip (male connector) 21 is releasably taper jointed andconnected to the connecting taper portion 9 of the female connector 2and presses the hemostasis valve 3 toward the front. Accordingly, in amanner similar to the above-described one, the body 13 of the hemostasisvalve 3 slides into the opening taper portion 10 and is elasticallydeformed in the radially inward direction, whereby the openable/closableportion 14 of the hemostasis valve 3 is opened. Then, infusion, drawingof blood or the like by the syringe 20 is started.

When infusion, collection of blood or the like is completed, the syringe20 is extracted from the female connector 2. Since the hemostasis valve3 is released from the pressure of the syringe 20 by this extraction, ina manner similar to the above-described one, the body 13 of thehemostasis valve 3 slides toward the rear owing to its resilient forceand returns to the inside of the connecting taper portion 9, and isdeformed in the radially outward direction and restores to the originalsize, thereby closing the openable/closable portion 14 of the hemostasisvalve 3. Accordingly, during/after the extraction of the syringe 20, itis possible to prevent blood leakage and the like.

In the above-described first embodiment, since the hemostasis valve 3 ismade of a single member, a dead space formed between the femaleconnector 2 and the hemostasis valve 3 can be made small. In thismanner, the dead space which is a hotbed of various microorganisms canbe made small, whereby it is possible to reduce the risk that the deadspace becomes a cause of the occurrence of infectious diseases.

In addition, since the hemostasis valve 3 is made of a single member,the structure is simple, and during the connection between the femaleconnector 2 and the male connector 21, the openable/closable portion 14of the hemostasis valve 3 is opened not by pressing open theopenable/closable portion 14 of the hemostasis valve 3 by means of themale connector 21 or the like, but by sliding the hemostasis valve 3 bymeans of the male connector 21. Accordingly, even if connection betweenthe female connector 2 and the male connector 21 is repeated, there isnot a great risk that the function of the openable/closable portion 14,that is to say, the function of the hemostasis valve 3, is impaired.

Incidentally, although in the above-described embodiment the taper ratioof the opening taper portion and the taper ratio of the connecting taperportion are made different from each other, the taper ratios of both maybe made the same.

Then, a second embodiment of the invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 10 to 16. In this description, reference will be mademainly to the difference from the above-described first embodiment.First, the connecting taper portion 9 which is tapered toward the frontis formed on the internal circumferential surface of the rear portion ofthe female connector 2.

However, a tubular connecting portion 25 is molded integrally with thetube 1 or the female connector 2. The connecting portion 25 is arrangedin the longitudinal direction, and communicates with the tube 1 and islocated in the female connector 2, and is opened at its rear end. Inthis example, the tube 1 is extended toward the rear, and its extendedportion, that is to say, a portion projecting rearwardly from theadhesive 8, is used as the connecting portion 25.

The hemostasis valve 3 is disposed forwardly of the connecting taperportion 9 of the female connector 2, and is elastically deformable. Thehemostasis valve 3 is made of a tubular portion (body) 12 and theopenable/closable portion 14 which are integrally molded.

The tubular portion 12 is fitted onto the connecting portion 25 from therear, and is elastically deformed toward the front and reduced in size,by being pressed toward the front by the inner needle hub 5 and the maleconnector 21.

The openable/closable portion 14 is molded integrally with the rear endof the tubular portion 12 to close the rear end opening of theconnecting portion 25, and as shown in FIG. 14, a slit 15, through whichthe inner needle is inserted with the slit 15 pressed open by the innerneedle, is formed to extend in the radial direction on the middle sideof the openable/closable portion 14, and the openable/closable portion14 is elastically deformed in the radially outward direction by thereduction in size of the tubular portion 12 and by the abutment betweenthe openable/closable portion 14 and the rear end of the connectingportion 25, whereby the slit 15 is opened and the openable/closableportion 14 is fitted over the connecting portion 25. Incidentally, thelength of the slit 15 is made approximately equal to or slightly greaterthan the inside diameter of the tubular portion 12 and the outsidediameter of the connecting portion 25.

According to the above-described second embodiment, when fluid istransfused or blood is drawn from a blood vessel such as a peripheralvein in the back of a hand of a patient or from under the skin or thelike of the patient, first of all, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, theinner needle 4 and the inner needle hub 5 of the catheter are insertedinto the female connector 2 from the rear. The inner needle 4 isinserted through the tube 1 while the slit 15 of the openable/closableportion 14 of the hemostasis valve 3 is being pressed open due toelastic deformation by the inner needle 4, and the inner needle hub 5presses the hemostasis valve 3 toward the front. Accordingly, thetubular portion 12 of the hemostasis valve 3 is elastically deformedtoward the front and reduced in size, and the openable/closable portion14 is elastically deformed to a further extent in the radially outwarddirection by the abutment between the openable/closable portion 14 andthe rear end of the connecting portion 25, whereby the slit 15 is openedfurther and the openable/closable portion 14 is fitted over theconnecting portion 25.

Then, in a manner similar to that described in the first embodiment,after the inner needle 4 and the tube 1 have been stuck into a bloodvessel or the like of the patient, the female connector 2 and the likeare fixed to the back of the hand of the patient by tape-or the like.

Then, the inner needle 4 and the inner needle hub 5 are extracted fromthe tube 1, the female connector 2 and the like. Since the hemostasisvalve 3 is released from the pressure of the inner needle hub 5 by thisextraction, the tubular portion 12 of the hemostasis valve 3 extendstoward the rear owing to its resilient force and restores to itsoriginal size, thereby closing the slit 15 of the openable/closableportion 14 of the hemostasis valve 3. Accordingly, during/after theextraction of the inner needle 4, it is possible to prevent bloodleakage and the like.

Subsequently, when infusion, drawing of blood or the like is to bestarted, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the tip 21 of the syringe 20illustrated as one example of a male connector is inserted into thefemale connector 2, and the tip 21 is releasably taper jointed andconnected to the connecting taper portion 9 of the female connector 2and presses the hemostasis valve 3 toward the front. Accordingly, in amanner similar to the above-described one, the tubular portion 12 of thehemostasis valve 3 is elastically deformed toward the front and isreduced in size, and the openable/closable portion 14 is elasticallydeformed in the radially outward direction by the reduction in size andby the abutment between the openable/closable portion 14 and the rearend of the connecting portion 25, whereby the slit 15 is opened and theopenable/closable portion 14 is fitted over the connecting portion 25.Then, infusion, drawing of blood or the like by the syringe 20 isstarted.

When transfusion, collection of blood or the like is completed, thesyringe 20 is extracted from the female connector 2. Since thehemostasis valve 3 is released from the pressure of the syringe 20 bythis extraction, in a manner similar to the above-described one, thetubular portion 12 of the hemostasis valve 3 extends toward the rearowing to its resilient force and restores to the original size, therebyclosing the slit 15 of the openable/closable portion 14 of thehemostasis valve 3. Accordingly, during/after the extraction of thesyringe, it is possible to prevent blood leakage and the like.

1. An indwelling catheter comprising: a tube arranged in a longitudinaldirection; and a female connector having a hollow form opened at itsfront and rear ends and being provided on a rear portion of the tube ina state of communicating with the rear portion; wherein a tubularconnecting portion is molded integrally with the tube or the femaleconnector, the tubular connecting portion being arranged in alongitudinal direction, communicating with the tube, being located inthe female connector, and being opened at its rear end; and anelastically deformable hemostasis valve is disposed in the femaleconnector, the hemostasis valve including: a tubular portion fitted overthe connecting portion from a rearward direction and reducible in sizeby forward elastic deformation; and an openable/closable portion moldedintegrally with a rear end of the tubular portion to close a rear endopening of the connecting portion, and provided with a slit formed toextend in a radial direction, the slit being opened by being elasticallydeformed in a radially outward direction owing to the reduction in sizeof the tubular portion.
 2. The indwelling catheter according to claim 1,wherein a connecting taper portion which is provided to extendsuccessively rearwardly from the opening taper portion and to which amale connector is releasably connected is formed on an innercircumferential surface of the female connector.
 3. The indwellingcatheter according to claim 2, wherein the hemostasis valve is pressableforwardly by the male connector.
 4. The indwelling catheter according toclaim 2, wherein the male connector is separably connected to a rearportion of the female connector.
 5. The indwelling catheter according toclaim 2, wherein the tublar portion is elastically deformed forwardlyand reduced in size during application of pressure by the maleconnector.
 6. The indwelling catheter according to claim 1, wherein aninner needle is removably inserted through the tube.
 7. The indwellingcatheter according to claim 6, wherein the inner needle is removablyinserted through the tube and the female connector with its frontportion projecting forwardly from the tube.
 8. The indwelling catheteraccording to claim 6, wherein the inner needle is inserted through theslit.
 9. The indwelling catheter according to claim 1, wherein thehemostasis valve is made of a rubber elastic material.
 10. Theindwelling catheter according to claim 1 further comprising a member.11. The indwelling catheter according to claim 10 wherein the membercomprises an inner needle, a needle hub and a male connector.
 12. Theindwelling catheter according to claim 11 wherein the member having themale connector is a syringe.